The number of injuries caused by the accidents is 2,330, resulting in a 3.5 per cent rise compared to 2004.

Increase

The report also revealed that 50 per cent of the accidents in 2005 took place at night with the same percentage of accidents taking place in 2004.

The number of locals who met with accidents was 40, which is a 5.26 per cent increase compared to 2004.

The average number of deaths in the emirate has been 19.66 per 100,000 of the population.

The deaths caused by accidents on highways was 47.40 per cent, while those caused on city roads was 34.75 per cent. Studies further revealed that 42 people lost their lives on internal city roads which constituted 17.79 per cent of the total.

The number of pedestrians who lost their lives stood at 100, which is an increase of 20.48 per cent compared to 2004 (when 83 pedestrian lost their lives). This forms 43 per cent of the total number of deaths.

The number of drivers who died is 65 per cent an increase of 18.18 per cent and the number of passengers summed up to 15 per cent an increase of 19.05 per cent on 2004.

The number of cyclists accounted to 12 and form 5.08 per cent of the total. Amongst pedestrians 55 of them were Indians and form 55 per cent of the pedestrians killed.

Findings also revealed that 88 per cent of the car accidents were caused by male drivers and 44.565 of them were from the age group of 18 to 27 years.

Licence

Amongst the drivers 25.12 per cent were locals, 25.12 per cent were Pakistanis and 18.96 per cent were Indians. Drivers that had received their licence from Dubai constituted to an alarming 61.61 per cent of the accidents and the number plates registered in Dubai formed a 73 per cent.

Drivers that were licence holders for two years were responsible for 31 per cent of the deaths and injuries.

Maitha said the road safety and awareness levels need to be increased and the RTA is working towards improving accident-prone areas by constructing overhead crossings and other traffic-awareness campaigns.

"Driving schools should be more cautious while conducting the tests and training their students," she said.

She urged all drivers, especially youngsters, to be more careful. All drivers must use seat belts as this reduces 50 per cent of the casualties, she said.

Some 300,000 vehicles were involved in traffic accidents in Dubai last year, according to an annual report released by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The report says 236 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2005 compared to 206 in 2004, a 15 per cent increase in the number of such deaths. Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Establishment at the authority, said: "There is an accident with a casualty every 36.6 hours." Hundred pedestrians died last year, which is 43 per cent of the total casualties.